Xantia suspension strange behavior

[admiral51]

Hi all
my 1.9td is giving me a few small worries at present the most annoying is to do with the suspension
when doing "citrobics" it will rise and fall from low to high and back again without any problems will even go to "semi high".when setting it to "normal" from "high" or "semi" sweet as anything real smooth trying from "low" and only the front end rises the back is firmly planted on the bump stops
in normal driving the ride is great real smooth and ive done the filters and refilled with hydraflush only 400 miles ago. it does the sit in the boot test perfect and doesnt sink even when left overnight
my guess is its something to do with the rear HC my only concern is ive never messed about with them and not really sure of its exact location and dont want to disturb what is currently a nice comfortable ride

any ideas

Colin

[citronut]

sounds like its the linkage binding, try giveing it a good soaking in a very thin oil like the dreded WD40, i use duck oil (contect), follow the oilling by packing it with loads of grease,

one of my customer Xants was messing about at the front end, so i fitted a new H/C craddle which i bought from PLEIADES FOR £40 squide,
regards malcolm

[MikeT]

I second that

Out of interest Colin, I'd like to see/know how clean your filters still are after 400+ miles of hydroflushing.

Like my last Xantia, the filters in this one were caked from neglect. I suspect they were overflowing rather than filtering (if possible). There was a considerable amount of muck in the reservoir too - I filtered it through the (cleaned) long thin filter just to see how dirty it was - Considering some, if not most debris was left sticking to the walls of the tank - I think it's safe to assume there is a fair bit of muck in the system that needs to come out!

Like the debate on not flushing engine oil though I suspect it's quite possible to dislodge a piece large enough to block a smaller orifice. The size of particles in the filters were not all grainy.

[admiral51]

Thanks for that malcolm will have a play around with it sometime this weekend

Mike i havnt looked at them yet will probably leave them for another 4-6 weeks should give plenty of time for me to get things moving around the system
will post some pics of the state they are in when i next clean them but they were in a bad state very blocked and the tank itself had a grey/black film inside coating sides and base
Colin

[Peter.N.]

I would agree, sticky height corrector. Personally, if it drives OK I wouldn't worry about it.

[CitroJim]

If the filters were really dirty Colin, Hydraflush will take some while to get the height correctors working well. I had a similar problem with my front height corrector on my Activa but in the opposite sense. It would not go from high to normal but would rise OK from low to normal. It took months to start working correctly after hydraflushing and then, it fell to pieces The ball the plastic linkage connects to broke off

I'd suspect the linkage mechanism needs a good clean and lubricate. Get under and have a good look at it. There are two sets of springs and sliding surfaces that need a good clean, followed by a good dousing in WD40 and then a good application of spray grease.

Here is a picture of a rear HC. They are very accessible at the rear but get very rusty and corroded. A good clean will make all the difference.

The picture is upside down but where you see the dirty grease is where you have to clean and lubricate. I'm embarrassed now, as that's the rear HC on my 2.1 It looks terrible and all that rust on my anti-sink sphere



Here is a diargam of same..



Here item 2 is the rear HC.

I know I don't need to say this to you Colin but please don't go playing with height correctors without making sure the car is very adequately supported. Sorry for the egg-sucking lesson...

[admiral51]

Thanks for the pic Jim atleast i now know what im looking for

im going to give it a good shot of plusgas after ive cleaned the crud off of it. No problems with the egg sucking lesson after all its not just me thats going to be reading it
my 1.9td only does about 120 miles a week mainly no more than 10 miles at a time would it be wise to leave the hydraflush in for longer than the 1000 mile rule
will post a new thread comparing MPG between the 2 cars

Colin

[jonnydrumm1967]

Is No.6 the plastic link rod? On my estate it's tied on with wire! Maybe that's why it sinks at the back on start up. It soon recovers,though. I know that if you put it on low,it'll sink but if I move the lever to middle,it will not come up till I move the lever to High! Then,back to middle and it's fine. Good old Xant. lol.

[CitroJim]

Is No.6 the plastic link rod? On my estate it's tied on with wire!

No wonder it does not behave properly..

Yes, No.6 is the plastic link and they cost pennies from a Stealer.

Part No. and price:

0000529103 CORRECTION LINK £2.16

[jonnydrumm1967]

Thanks for your reply I would imagine the height corrector assembly is still ok as it seems to "know" where to sit during normal running,once it's been started. It only takes about 15secs for everything to level out.
Having said that,there's bound to be excess movement at the link rod,if it's tied on!
Will get a new one ordered up.

Thanks again,

Jon.

[citronut]

Jon
sounds like your H/C linkage mechanisum is sticking as well,

i dont think your tied on link will affect it by that much, even though it will be a good idea to fit a new one

regards malcolm